1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to method and system for replaying video images and more particularly, to a method of placing a bookmark on a thumbnail image.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Image media including television for providing to users various broadcast contents such as news, education, entertainment, shows, etc. are rapidly being developed.
Conventionally, televisions operate in an analog way. The analog televisions allow users only to decide whether to receive the broadcast contents transmitted from a broadcasting station. Because such analog televisions do not meet the user's various desires, digital televisions were developed.
Such digital televisions abandon the analog unidirectional communication method and employ the bi-directional communication method that enables communications with TV viewers.
The digital television is provided with high capacity hard disk that stores many broadcast contents provided from various broadcasting stations. In other words, in contrast with video cassette recorder (VCR) that stores image signals on a magnetic tape, the digital television includes digital recorder, set top box or hard disk drive (HDD) so that it can record a broadcast program having a certain running time depending on the capacitance of the hard disk without any VCR. In addition, the digital television has the general functions of the VCR such as fast forward, rewind, skip, etc.
Accordingly, a user may receive the plurality of broadcast contents from the broadcasting station and store them. The stored contents can be replayed easily at the time the user wants. On the basis of a time the user stops replaying the broadcast content, a bookmark is added on a corresponding broadcast content. Therefore, in case the broadcast content is again replayed, it is possible to replay a next image corresponding to the broadcast content to be replayed from the stopped time.
FIG. 1A shows an example of a conventional method of placing a bookmark. FIG. 1B shows an example of a conventional method of displaying a bookmark-added image.
As shown in FIG. 1A, in the conventional method of placing the bookmark, an index B82 of a position where a video stream stops is stored in case the video stream including I, B and P pictures is replayed and is stopped at somewhere. When the video stream is replayed again, it is replayed with reference to the stored index B82 from the position where it was stopped.
According to the method of placing the bookmark, however, in case a user replays a plurality of broadcast contents from the bookmark-added position without any information on the contents to be replayed, the user would not fully understand the whole broadcast content since it is difficult for the user to understand the story or the content of the video stream of the image prior to the bookmark.
And also, according to the conventional method of placing the bookmark, the broadcast contents cannot be replayed from the position prior to the bookmark since the broadcast contents can be replayed only from the position the bookmark is just placed on. Accordingly, there is an inconvenience that the user cannot skip the usually unwanted advertisements and is forced to watch the whole undesired advertisements.